Henry Library

The companionship of worthy books marks one of life's singular pleasures. Whether they be familiar friends to which one turns again and again, or tattered and dusty volumes that stand in silent witness to the wisdom of the ages, or neatly printed pages that smell of new ink and ideas, books enrich our lives beyond measure.

Truth be told, not a few great persons have gone so far as to suggest that no house is finished or fit in the absence of books. Cicero observed, "To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul."

Boethius, in the midst of his great suffering while in exile, longed for the library of his house. It was "a place of sure repose" where with its books lined up on richly decorated walls he met Lady Philosophy and explored "the secrets of nature," for there she "used to describe the various paths of the planets . . . and relate human ethics and the whole of human life to the patterns of the celestial order."

In "The Tempest," Shakespeare has Prospero simply lament, "My library was dukedom enough."

The Brooks College Library helps to complete, deepen, and enrich life within our own vital intellectual community. Here, college members can find a place of respite for quiet reflection, an opportunity to test their minds against some of history's greatest thinkers, and a comfortable venue wherein thoughtful conversation about significant issues may be taken up with friends.

As our small collection of books grows, you will see evidence of the DNA of the college in the volumes that are given and inscribed by distinguished guests and members of the college.

In the reflections jotted down in the library commonplace book, you will find interesting observations, fascinating musings, and perhaps even life-changing insights all of which shed light on what we were, are, and perhaps will be as a collegiate community. Here, too, you find the library to be a kind of guardian of our history, with its records of our accomplishment and our habits of thought.

In short, as our modest college library grows through time, with the collecting and keeping of books, so also does our community.